That’s when the first segments of the new Route 51-West Liberty Avenue interchange will open at the south end of the Liberty Tunnels.

"Everything is on schedule," Pennsylvania Department of Transportation project engineer Todd Kravits said of the improvement, first proposed in the mid-1930s to alleviate traffic snarls and delays where the busy South Hills highways converge.

"Of course, schedules are always weather dependent," Kravits said. "But if we have a normal spring, people can look forward to using parts of the new project by the end of June."

Here are the parts and ramps of the interchange that are to be opened at that time:

<img src=/images/dot.gif width=15 height=15> The five-lane, 180-foot-long overpass taking Route 51 northbound and southbound traffic out of the congestion at the tunnel junction. "It will take 27,000 vehicles a day out of the mix," Kravits said.

<img src=/images/dot.gif width=15 height=15> A 360-degree "loop ramp" that will take traffic coming out of the southbound tunnel onto the new overpass to proceed south on Route 51 without making a left turn.

<img src=/images/dot.gif width=15 height=15> A ramp that will enable Route 51 traffic heading southbound from the West End area to turn right onto West Liberty Avenue (Route 19 South) toward Dormont and Mt. Lebanon.

<img src=/images/dot.gif width=15 height=15> A ramp that will enable West Liberty Avenue traffic heading northbound to turn right onto Route 51 South toward Overbrook, Pleasant Hills and West Mifflin.

The openings will require drivers to change habits, including this big one: If you will want to go southbound on Route 51, you will have to get into the right lane of the outbound tunnel, instead of the left lane that motorists have been using since the tubes opened in 1923.

Motorists destined for West Liberty Avenue will be directed into the left lane, instead of the right lane they presently travel.

"It’s going to take time for people to get accustomed to the changes," Kravits said. "Big signs will be installed to direct them to their proper lane assignments. If people aren’t in the proper lane, they could end up somewhere they don’t want to go."

The balance of the $26.1 million contract is to be finished by November. It includes completing the rest of the ramps, repaving existing pavement incorporated into the interchange, a new Warrington Avenue interchange and installation of new traffic signals.

When all segments of the project are finished and open, Kratis said, "overall delays will be reduced" for the 100,000 cars and trucks that use the Route 51-19 interchange daily.

"Through traffic on Route 51 will be virtually free-flowing," PennDOT District 11 Engineer Ray Hack said. "This gives us more time to move other traffic in and out of the tunnels."

The overall cost of the project is more than $30 million, including an $8.6 million replacement of the concrete floors in the tunnels in 1996, and more than $5 million spent to acquire dozens of old buildings -- and their contents -- for the right of way.

The contents included a 1968 Shelby and seven other classic cars, and Penguins announcer Mike Lange’s regular bar stool at Gene’s Bar and Lounge, a blues bar razed on Route 51.

In order to build the interchange, PennDOT relocated utilities, built tunnels for Saw Mill Run and upgraded Pioneer Avenue and Hargrove Street.

The concept of a split-level interchange, instead of a street-level intersection, dates back to the mid-1930s. And although construction had been proposed many times because of the traffic tie-ups, the project never got off the ground until projected traffic jams associated with the Fort Pitt Bridge and Tunnel rehabilitation became the catalyst.